Galactic Chronicles II: A Galaxy Divided
by Geardirector
Summary: The Clone Wars have begun, and neither side is giving an inch. How will the outer rim republic world of Spherus Magna, so different from the others, manage in a war they know little about and had never wanted. Read to find out.


**Well, here it is, the long-awaited sequel to Galactic Chronicles. Sure did take a while, sorry about that, I'll try to be more regular.**

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**Galactic Chronicles II: A galaxy divided**

**Chapter 1**

**Stroke of Malevolence**

"Welcome aboard, Sir. Count Dooku is expecting you"

Ahkmou ignored the droid commander as he marched through the ship's corridors, his dark eyes sucking in every detail.

_"If I didn't know better I would swear Sidious is, as the meatbags say, "overcompensating for something""_ he thought.

The elevator doors slid apart before him, giving Ahkmou a moment of privacy as he ascended to the bridge.

As Ahkmou stepped out of the elevator, he laid his eyes on a large, circular room illuminated in glooming red. Battle droids were tapping away at the controls, with a large, hulking figure in white armor stomping back and forth, observing them.

A robed figure stood on the platform in the center, and he turned slowly at the sound of the escalator doors, smiling slightly as Ahkmou stepped into the light.

"Welcome aboard, commander" he said.

Ahkmou was silent for a while, letting the significance of what Dooku had called him sink in.

_"Commander of the Confederate Droid Army"_ he thought to himself _"I could get used to this"_

"I do not believe you two have been introduced" Dooku continued as Ahkmou stopped face to face with the white-armored cyborg.

"No" Ahkmou admitted "we haven't"

"This is General Grievous, the supreme commander of our droid armies; you'll be working under him" Dooku exposited.

Ahkmou mumbled something in Matoran, his tone clearly revealing the nature of what he said; Dooku chose to ignore it, for now.

"We're tracking three republic cruisers, what should we do?" one of the droids cut in.

"Jam their transmissions" Dooku ordered.

"It appears your timing couldn't be better" Dooku told Ahkmou "this is the perfect test for our new weapon"

"You have my attention Dooku" Ahkmou declared, and walked over to the windows to observe properly.

"Charge the Ion Cannon" Grievous ordered.

Ahkmou could see three republic cruisers hovering in standby. Ahkmou guessed their original plan had been to wait for reinforcements, so much for that now.

"The Ion Cannon is charged, sir" one of the droids declared.

"**Fire**" Grievous ordered.

The large turret mounted on the side of the ship generated a massive circle of energy, humming and buzzing with power. It discharged at great speed, rushing for the three cruisers.

The effect was astonishing, the large disc made the cruisers go completely dead, losing all power and, more importantly, defenses.

"Fire" Grievous ordered.

The defenseless cruisers were torn apart in moments by the _Malevolence_'s myriad of turrets and cannons; Ahkmou couldn't help but be impressed.

"Send out a podhunter, kill any and all survivors" Dooku ordered.

"Hold on a second" Ahkmou said…

XXXXXXXXXX

"General Firox"

The voice of her commander carried the trademark air of efficiency and strictness that Firox had come to associate with the clones.

She turned to see the clone dressed in white armor, with the stark red stripes her legion had donned.

"Yes, Commander Ironhide?" she asked

"We're approaching the staging area, but we're detecting another presence also approaching from hyperspace"

"From where?"

"Further into the outer rim" came the commander's reply.

"_Master Skywalker said he was already there, I wonder who it could be_" Firox thought as she nodded at the commander to signify she understood.

"Admiral Valinar" she called out.

"Yes, sir?" he complied.

"Tell your men to be prepared; we can't be sure who we'll run into. They could be Confederate, but we don't want to draw conclusions" Firox ordered.

"Ready to exit hyperspace in one, two…" Valinar began.

"Three" he finished and the ship's surroundings became discernible again.

Firox looked out the window, to see three republic cruisers already in position right where Anakin had told them.

"Unknown presence exiting hyperspace in three, two, one"

At the last word, a tear-shaped cruiser with metallic green plating darted into view opposite of them.

"Hold your fire" Firox called out "they're friends".

"Master" Talia spoke up "we're receiving incoming transmissions from both Master Skywalker and the new arrivals."

"Put them both through" she responded.

Two separate holograms flared up in front of her, one of Anakin and the other of a massive being in armor.

"Welcome, Master Firox, mind telling me who your friends are?" Anakin demanded to know, nodding at their companion.

"That won't be necessary" he spoke up "You're talking to Commander Trinuma of Spherus Magna; commander Jaller told us the chancellor wanted our support in the search for the separatist superweapon."

"That's very much appreciated" Firox complied, "so, what's the status of Master Plo?"

Anakin brought up a holo-view of Koon's last known location as he proceeded to explain.

"Master Plo was here in the Abregado system when we lost contact" Anakin began.

"He told me he was confident he'd found the separatist weapon, and was in need of reinforcements"

"It's likely that Master Plo and his fleet… was destroyed"

"So, what's our next move?" Trinuma queried.

"Well, since we weren't counting on you being here, I suppose we could spare some troops for a search party" Anakin conceded.

"Might I suggest you leave that to us?" Trinuma offered "The crew of _The Hau _isanxious to get going"

"Sounds fine to me" Anakin admitted.

"I have no objections" Firox added.

"Excellent, we will get right on it immediately" Trinuma finished and broke off the transmission, before tapping another switch and bringing up another hologram.

The hologram of a fellow Vorakhian flared into view.

"What do you need, sir?" he asked, casually adjusting the lens on his white Matatu

**((A/N: "Vorakhian" is the name I've given to Trinuma's species))**

"Sergeant Keeah, I need you to organize a search party to the Abregado system, a republic squadron was attacked there, and we're going to search for any survivors who might have information about the Confederate superweapon."

"Roger that" Keeah replied before he broke the transmission.

Keeah was your average Vorakhian; a nine feet tall behemoth, with blue and black armor with hints of white and yellow here and there.

He turned from the transceiver, walking through the inner, dull green corridors of the ship.

As a door slid apart before him, Keeah immediately raised his voice to call to nearby subordinates.

"Alright, I need a pilot, an engineer, a healer and any other unfortunate souls who want to join a suicide rescue mission." He declared.

Three Matoran came into view, a Le-Matoran, a Fe-Matoran and a Ga-Matoran respectively, each saluting him as they looked expectantly for further orders.

"Good, anyone else"

"I'll give it a shot, if you'll allow it" a voice called from behind

Keeah turned to see Scorch come stomping into view, his orange Mask of X-Ray Vision buzzing as the lenses adjusted to regard the other volunteers.

"Very well, let's go" Keeah said.

As the quintet entered the hangar, a beep erupted from Keeah's hip.

He quickly detached the communicator and triggered it, a hologram of his superior appeared.

"What, sir?" he asked.

"The Republic wishes to send one of theirs along with you on the rescue mission. She'll be coming over now!" Trinuma replied.

Keeah looked up to right then see a Republic shuttle touch down in the hangar.

Keeah motioned for the others to follow him as the shuttle doors opened to reveal a young-looking girl with an orange skin tone and an assortment of tentacle-like appendages sprouting from her head.

Scorch mentally arrived at the conclusion that the young girl was a Togruta.

"I'm Padawan Tano, I asked to join this mission" she explained as she saluted Keeah.

"Drop the civilities, kid, this is not a parade" Keeah assured.

"Thanks" the Togruta girl sighed as she adopted a more casual stance.

"Name's Ahsoka. I wanted to help find Master Plo"

"Yeah, we got the memo" Scorch replied as Keeah took the lead towards their ship.

"You're Skywalker's Padawan, correct?" Scorch asked Ahsoka as the two fell behind the others.

"Yeah" Ahsoka replied, Scorch chuckled.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Firox has told me quite a bit about him, not your average Jedi so to speak" Scorch replied.

Ahsoka nodded, just as the group stopped. They had found the ship.

A bulky, large, steel gray hull stood before them, the door sliding up to let them in.

"So, we're taking an Ussal?" Scorch asked, Keeah nodded.

"Any survivors will be in escape pods, we'll need enough room to get them in."

"Ussal?" Ahsoka asked.

"It means it's big, reliable and can carry extremely heavy loads"

"So, basically a Cargo Ship" Ahsoka reasoned

"Call it whatever you want" Scorch responded as they entered the hull.

"Farzan; you man the radar, Khervos; prepare for takeoff, Viril; you get ready in the back, chances are we'll have to tend to any survivors we find." Keeah barked, ordering the Matoran left and right.

"Scorch, you and Padawan Tano are with us in the cockpit; it's your job to help us spot any incoming threats or survivors" Keeah ordered, the two nodded and followed the nine foot behemoth into the cockpit.

Khervos, the Le-Matoran pilot, was already firing up the engines as the trio entered the cockpit.

Keeah sat down in the other pilot's seat while Scorch and Ahsoka claimed a pair of seats in the back of the room.

The ship wasted no time exciting the hangar, quickly drawing attention as many of the republic pilots had to take a good look at the craft.

Khervos jokingly waved at the clone pilots as they flew past.

"Ready to enter hyperspace in three, two, one…" Keeah began counting down.

"Entering" he finished as the ship sped up till the many stars on the horizon turned into long streak of light as they zoomed past.

Scorch turned on his chair to look at Ahsoka, who was staring right in front of her, out into the blurry surroundings.

A quick scan with his mask revealed that Ahsoka's heart was beating rapidly

"Something the problem?" he asked.

Ahsoka turned to look at the titanic cyborg beside her, every bit of his appearance radiating power and experience. His inhuman eyes glowed brightly red as he measured her up and down.

"It was Master Plo that first found me as a child, he brought me to the Jedi temple." Ahsoka revealed.

"He's always been a great mentor, and he's always come through. If anyone could survive that, Master Plo could"

Scorch nodded slowly as Ahsoka related her tale.

He could relate to the young Togruta, more than he cared to admit. He had had a mentor himself once… one who was taken away far too early.

Ahsoka felt a heavy presence on her shoulder, and looked up to see Scorch's massive hand resting there.

"Don't worry, we'll find him"

At this moment, the ship had excited hyperspace, the world around them skidding to a halt.

What they found was a desolate environment, riddled with wreckage that occasionally let off faint sparks.

"What-ever the Separatist super-weapon is, it sure leaves a clutter-mess" Khervos remarked.

"Then we better start looking before it comes back" Farzan reasoned as he turned to his instruments. Scorch nodded, and used his mask to help as best as he could.

"There" Ahsoka called out and quickly rose from her chair, pointing into space. Scorch looked in that direction, and could immediately spot a silhouette that looked clearly like an escape pod.

"Survivors?" Scorch asked, turning to Farzan, who was occupied with the communications.

"If it is, they're not responding" he said.

"We can't spot-see the window-glass from this side-angle" Khervos pointed out, and grabbed the controls to move the ship around so they could see the window.

"Careful, Khervos" Keeah stressed, referring to the debris "we don't want to alert anyone to our presence"

Khervos didn't answer, but carefully maneuvered the lumbering cargo ship in a wide arc to avoid a large cluster of debris, eventually getting around to the front…

The front window had been forced open, and a dead clone was still floating, body halfway between the capsule interior and the endless expanse of space.

"By the Great Spirit" Scorch whispered.

"The separatists are cleaning up" Keeah commented coldly. He then turned around in his chair to Farzan.

"Farzan, monitor all channels, if the separatists are rubbing out the pods, then maybe we can pick up a distress call."

Farzan nodded, and turned to the com-link, commencing with an energetic tapping of the buttons. He was cut off when a weak, scratchy transmission suddenly broke through.

_"This is pod 3G-7 calling mayday, mayday, we are under attack. The droids are hunting for survivors."_

Keeah rocketed out of his chair and over to Farzan's console.

"This is Ussal-554. Do you copy, 3G-7?" He called in.

The pod didn't seem to pick up as it kept broadcasting its distress call.

_"They're cutting through"_ the operator yelled in panic.

"Find that pod, _now_" Keeah ordered.

"The signal is weak, I can't get a lock on it" Farzan bemused.

"You won't have to" Scorch commented. Keeah and Farzan turned to look in his direction, where they could see a pod under the grip of a weird ship that seemed like it consisted of just one big clamp that was currently grasping around the pod. Blue sparks erupted from the front, where droids could be seen at work.

"We've got to do something" Ahsoka insisted and jumped out of her chair.

"Right" Keeah replied.

"Khervos, you get us close, Scorch, you're with me"

"I wanna come with" Ahsoka demanded.

"Sorry, kid, we don't have any space suits for you" Keeah excused.

"I want to hel…" Ahsoka began, but was cut off when Keeah put a firm hand on her shoulder.

"You'll get your chance, I promise. But for now, you'll stay here, and wait for further instructions. That's an order"

Ahsoka was quiet for a moment, before she dropped back into her chair.

The Toa of Plasma and the Vorakhian walked into the cargo hold, where Keeah opened a pair of compartments. One of them contained weapons, the other oxygen tanks with accompanying breathing apparatuses.

The largely mechanic composition of Spherus Magnas inhabitants meant they didn't need a suit to survive in space, only an adequate air supply.

"Let's give those tin cans a good welcome" Keeah said as he attached the mouthpiece to his mask.

"Affirmative" Scorch replied as he dislodged his sword from his back.

Keeah grabbed his own weapons, a Kanoka launcher and an arm-mounted blade, and the two stepped forward to the cargo bay doors.

"Good Luck" Viril wished them from her position with the medical supplies as they attached their security tethers.

The cargo doors opened, a forcefield in place to keep the pressure stable, and Keeah and Scorch could see themselves position right above the pod and the podhunter.

"Go" Keeah ordered and lead a jump into the void.

The two ended up floating right above the escape pod, and Keeah immediately fired a disk at the closest droid. The disk of energy struck the droid, and flash-froze it in a block of ice.

"Attack" another droid ordered, and the droids fired their weapons at the two. The only problem was, they were firing plasma.

With a simple command, Scorch made the blaster shots divert into empty space, keeping the two safe. Scorch returned the favor by flinging a series of plasma bolts in direction of the droids, managing to burn the head straight off of one of them.

"I hate this job" another droid complained.

"Scorch, the clamp" Keeah called through their comlink, Scorch nodded and readied his sword. Keeah used his mask of Telekinesis to quickly move Scorch closer to the podhunter's clamps.

"Alright, all set" Scorch called back.

Keeah loaded another disk into his launcher, aimed, and took a clean shot at one of the beams that made up the large clamp. The weakening disk did the trick, the clamp started to crack up and weaken, and a well-placed swing with Scorch's sword finished the job.

As the podhunter drifted off into space, Scorch couldn't help but be reminded of a particularly grueling encounter in the Toa/Dark Hunter War, where lots of levitation and flight disks had been used.

"Great job, Scorch, now let's get this pod into the cargo bay"

_"Roger that"_ Khervos' voice chimed through the comlink as another tether was launched from the cargo bay at the pod. All three were then reeled in.

As the pod was dragged into the cargo bay, Ahsoka and Viril also came running, ready to help out.

"Is Master Plo in there?" Ahsoka demanded to know.

"Slow down kid, we just risked our lives. Give us a break" Scorch berated as Keeah approached the pod's door, opening it with ease. The massive hinges were surprisingly loose. The inside of the pod was pitch-black, almost as if all light had been banished. Keeah attributed it to the weak lights in the cargo hold.

"Hello, anyone in there?" he asked.

The response was a blast of pure darkness that came flowing out of the pod, striking Keeah with such force that he was thrown across the cargo hold.

He slammed against the wall, sliding down it with a weak grunt. He was out of commission.

A dark figure climbed out of the pod, clutching a cruel scimitar, dark energy still drifting around the blade.

"Surprise" Ahkmou said with a smile.

The others quickly grabbed their weapons, preparing for the Shadow Toa to lash out at them. They were not disappointed, as Ahkmou quickly charged forward, sending a slash at Scorch that he barely blocked with his own sword.

Scorch and Ahkmou separated, and Ahsoka and Farzan ran to the Toa's side. The Fe-Matoran was holding a Kanoka launcher.

"You've got to be pretty stupid if you think you can beat all three of us on your own, Ahkmou" Scorch said.

"We'll see" Ahkmou replied, before he released separate beams of shadow from his hands at Scorch and Ahsoka. The two blocked the beams, but had to struggle not to let up against the constant stream of dark energy.

"Farzan, get him" Scorch yelled. The Fe-Matoran nodded and sent the Kanoka disk right at Ahkmou.

Another bolt of shadow erupted from the darkness behind Ahkmou, struck the Kanoka disk, and pushed it right back at Farzan, who was put to sleep in an instant.

A following wave of shadow knocked both Scorch and Ahsoka off their feet, thus letting Ahkmou's attacks through, knocking them into the wall, where they eventually lost consciousness.

Just before Scorch faded, he could spot a dark figure behind Ahkmou, then everything went black…

TO BE CONTINUED

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**Well, there you have it.**

**Did you like it? Leave a review and tell me, and be honest.**


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